Mobile vehicles including aircraft, ships, trains, busses, etc. and other public transportation vehicles are commonly configured into a variety of different compartments, each of which can be the source of smoke and/or a fire. Compartments can be configured for passenger seating, crew use, lavatories, food preparation, baggage storage, cargo handling/storage, conference rooms, sleeping quarters, etc. Compartments which are normally unmanned or that can be isolated by separate doors commonly use smoke detection equipment, including ionizing smoke detectors, to signal the presence of smoke, and therefore the possible presence of fire, to personnel outside of these compartments. The smoke detectors “alarm” at a predetermined threshold of smoke, and any one or all of the smoke detectors can also be coordinated into a smoke/fire detection/indication system. This type of system is commonly identified as a “passive” system. Fires in these areas are commonly extinguished by hand-held devices operated by personnel who enter the compartment. More complex unmanned compartment fire systems tie smoke detectors into a fire suppression control system to apply suppression material, including water or more commonly halon, to deluge the compartment when smoke detectors alarm. These systems are commonly identified as “active” fire detection/suppression systems.
With the above described systems, smoke detectors, alone, do not identify the temperature in the alarming section, and therefore are unable to alert personnel if an actual fire or if a smoldering condition exists. Many smoke detector systems are wired to alarm all areas when smoke is detected in only one area. This can sometimes complicate determining which area personnel should approach first. Known systems also do not identify which detector was the first to alarm, thus signifying the most appropriate area to check first. Active systems using halon as the fire suppressant are generally considered unacceptable for use in possible personnel occupied areas, because flooding a compartment with halon can yield toxic byproducts of combustion. Therefore, personnel occupied areas, in general, normally require crew or trained personnel to combat fires using fire extinguishers. The presence of heavy smoke in a compartment entered by personnel entrusted to fight the fire can prevent rapid detection of the presence of, or actual location of, a fire.
Current aircraft commonly provide a single panel located near a crew station, such as a crew seating area, which includes one or more lights indicating that one or more smoke detectors are alarming, including smoke detectors in individual lavatories. No indication is provided, however, of which indicator was the first to alarm. Also, with the single panel now used, personnel about to enter a compartment remote from the panel have no indication of where a possible fire might be within that compartment, or if conditions within the compartment would be unsafe for personnel entry.